EdLawConnect Blog

On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (U.S. DOE) issued for public comment proposed amendments (“Proposed Amendments”) to the regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”). Title IX, a federal statute that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex by recipients of federal funding, specifically provides:

While employers can realize significant time savings or improvement in the hiring process by implementing technology, employers must ensure that the selected technology is designed and implemented in a way that prevents discrimination based on protected classes such as disability, race, sex, national origin, color, or religion.  Employers may be responsible for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) even if the discrimination is not intentional or the technology was developed by an outside vendor.

Spend any amount of time in a middle school or high school classroom across California, and you will witness firsthand the impact of smartphones on students’ education. In March, the results of one middle school teacher’s experiment went viral. Mary Garza encouraged students to leave their phones on, and turned up loud, during a single class period. The students then tallied each time they received a notification. In one class period, her students received over 300 text messages. The class also tallied Instagram alerts, emails, and other phone alerts. Her students received 32 phone calls during one class period on a typical school day. Overall, instruction was interrupted over 1,000 times in one period.

How could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream? — Percy Bysshe Shelley

Streaming school or college events live over the Internet allows anyone in the world — relatives, friends, and sundry interested parties — access to student choir concerts, plays, sporting events, or graduations. It’s almost like being there! But live streaming these events raises a variety of legal concerns. Before deciding to stream an event online, districts should carefully consider these issues.

Given the plummeting cost of digital storage, many educational agencies scan permanent records into electronic format and destroy the hard copy originals. The Education Code and Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations permit educational agencies to destroy paper records in certain circumstances — after their usefulness ceases, after they have been classified as “disposable,” or after they have been copied into an electronic storage medium. But even when the destruction is permitted by law, it may have negative repercussions if the agency knew or should have known the documents would be relevant to current or potential litigation.

The New Law (SB 395)

Effective January 1, 2018, a California minor age 15 or under must consult with an attorney before he/she can give a confession to a law enforcement officer in a custodial setting which would be legally admissible in a court of law. (SB 395, Welfare and Institutions Code § 625.6.)  The consultation with the attorney can occur by phone or video conference.  Neither the minor nor the minor’s s ...

On November 22, 2016, the State Chancellor's Office for California Community Colleges and the Statewide EEO and Diversity Advisory Committee published a new EEO and Diversity Best Practices Handbook.  This Handbook provides examples of community colleges which have implemented each of the nine “multiple methods” of promoting Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”).  The full Handbook containing ...

Earlier this year the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published an official Final Rule to amend the Regulations and the accompanying Interpretive Guidance implementing Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  This Final Rule affects all wellness programs that include disability-related inquiries and/or medical examinations and requires that all health programs must be ...

California’s Gun-Free School Zone Act (Penal Code section 626.9) makes possessing a firearm in a school zone punishable as a crime.  Criminal liability attaches unless the individual (1) has obtained the permission of the school district superintendent or equivalent school authority to carry a firearm or (2) falls within the exemptions under the statute.

The statute does not limit the ability of a school ...